Christina’s POV
We turned to see Cade running toward Ysolde. He stopped just short of crashing into her, sweaty and breathing hard. "Made it!"
Ysolde stared at him in disbelief. "What are you doing here? You’ve got a torn ligant! You should be resting!"
Cade leaned against her shoulder, grinning. "It hardly hurts when you’re around. I wanted to be here with you. Are you mad?"
Her expression mixed frustration and affection. "You’re already here. What am I supposed to do, throw you back down the mountain?"
I glanced back at Cassian, who stood frozen, watching the interaction with obvious jealousy. After a mont, he pulled himself together and started moving toward them.
I nudged Ysolde. "Want to run interference?"
She glanced at Cassian approaching. "No, I’ll... I’ll handle this."
I backed away from the drama and rejoined Hudson. "Let’s check out the bridge."
A short walk brought us to Lover’s Span, a tal walkway stretching across a narrow gorge. Every inch of its railings was covered with thousands of padlocks, gleaming in the misty sunlight.
I looked around, found a small weathered stall, and bought a pair of small heart-shaped locks. After borrowing a marker from the vendor, I started writing our initials.
"What would you have done if I hadn’t co?" Hudson asked, watching work.
"Hmm?" I looked up, confused. "What do you an?"
"If I hadn’t co here with you, would you have bought two locks as well?" His intense gaze held mine.
"Of course not." I didn’t need to think before answering.
If not for Ysolde and her two stalker-like suitors, I wouldn’t have co here at all.
Then... I glanced over at Hudson, who was seriously writing his na on the lock like he was signing an important pack agreent.
I hadn’t said "I love you" to him yet, but I didn’t want him to think his deeper, clearer feelings were one-sided or ignored by .
I looked into his eyes earnestly and said, "I’m sure Alpha Hudson, no matter how busy he is, knows what Lover’s Span ans."
Hudson stopped what he was doing, his gaze locking onto my face. "I know." His voice was low and serious. "A promise to be together forever."
I nodded, feeling my heart race. "So, are you ready?"
He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he reached out to gently touch my cheek. "Christina, this isn’t a ga or sothing casual. Once we hang this lock, it ans forever to . My wolf won’t let treat this kind of promise lightly."
I was struck by the seriousness in his words. This wasn’t just a simple tourist souvenir anymore, but a real commitnt ceremony.
"I understand," I said softly. "I’m serious too."
We hung the lock on the bridge and threw away the keys, then smiled at each other.
In that mont, I felt like our fates really had been locked together forever.
Hudson leaned closer.
I half-closed my eyes, waiting for that kiss.
"Guys!"
Hudson sighed.
I held back a laugh and turned toward whoever had ruined the mont.
Ysolde and Cade were walking toward us hand in hand.
I looked behind them.
Cassian was gone.
For the next three days, we stuck strictly to Ysolde’s schedule: hot springs, night markets, waterfalls, the psychic.
Cassian never showed up again.
***
The morning sunlight stread through the studio windows, like soone had scrubbed the entire city clean overnight.
My good mood from the trip lasted until I saw the chaos on the front desk.
Dozens of flower bouquets competed for space.
The flowers on the left were already wilting, petals curling at the edges, and the water in the vases had turned murky.
"Priya, where the hell did all this stuff co from?"
She looked up from her laptop and shrugged. "You missed the circus. Daniel and Alpha Niall have been sending flowers like they’re in so kind of competition. One would deliver, then half an hour later the other would too. I kept telling them you weren’t here, but they wouldn’t stop."
I tossed my bag on the bench. "You’re kidding ."
"I wish I was. I didn’t want them killing each other in here, so I told them I’d keep everything safe until you got back. Didn’t work. They got into another fight yesterday. Thank Goddess it wasn’t in the studio this ti. They took it to the sidewalk."
Moon Goddess above.
"I think Dan threw the first punch. He’s still not recovered from the last round. Probably broke out of the hospital just to get another hit in. Well, he’s back in a hospital bed now. Niall doesn’t look much better either. The Frostpelt pack mbers had to scrape him off the concrete."
I stared at the flowers again, imagining punching both those childish n until their faces looked like those wilted petals.
They were still stuck in their inheritance battle.
Every move was about scoring points.
Technically, Niall was the current Alpha of The Frostpelt Pack, so he should have full control. But Alpha Clive obviously didn’t trust Niall and hadn’t transferred most of the pack’s power or company assets to him.
I guessed Niall wanted back now because I was the real daughter of The Crescent Pack Alpha. I had inheritance rights to the pack and could inherit Franklin Company assets. While Beatrice was a fake.
I was afraid Daniel had the sa motives.
Maybe neither of them actually cared about flowers, or about .
"Throw them all out. Every single one. Don’t bring in the next batch either. Just put a trash can by the door."
Priya nodded. "Got it."
I looked around the studio.
Nothing was damaged.
No broken display cases, no blood on the tiles.
This ti, Daniel and Niall had beaten each other unconscious without trashing the place.
Maybe that psychic reading really did work.
At six o’clock, Hudson pulled up outside.
I climbed in.
"We’re making a quick stop at the hospital," he said.
"What, are you sick?" I looked him over.
Everything seed fine.
"No, it’s Edouard. His health is failing again. He’s called the pack lawyers to his room. He’s drafting a new will."
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